On Chess: Game not as hard as many think

Chess has an undeniable mystique. It is often thought to be the game of games - too difficult to master and best admired from afar.

Chess has an undeniable mystique. It is often thought to be the game of games — too difficult to master and best admired from afar.

In fact, the rules are quite simple. It’s possible to learn them in less than a half-hour.

Expertise is largely a matter of familiarity and practice. With only modest guidance, it’s possible to advance significantly from the beginning stage.

Even advanced skills aren’t as difficult as one would think.

In his book Lasker’s Manual of Chess, Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941) — a world chess champion, creative mathematician and philosopher — expressed his conviction that a young player, “even if he possesses no talent for chess,” can attain master strength with a mere 200 hours of application.

How is this possible?

“I can assert with a high degree of certainty,” Lasker wrote, “that nowadays we achieve only a fraction of what we are capable of achieving.”

Lasker’s optimism about learning the game is based on his impression that chess is deeply expressive of the human spirit.

He put it simply when he noted that humans especially like a good fight.

Few would deny that chess offers that.

Shelby Lyman is a Basic Chess Features columnist.

Beginner’s corner

Hint & explanation:

Simply for easier play.

Solution to Beginner’s corner:

1.Rd8ch! Kg7 2. Rg3 (forces a trade of rooks)

How the masters play

Below is a win by Fabiano Caruana against Mateusz Bartel from the Dortmund international tournament in Dortmund, Germany.